MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III displayed “pride and arrogance” for sending an emissary to hold talks with the Kiram family in behalf of the government on the deadly Sabah standoff, a United Nationalist Alliance senatorial candidate said Wednesday.
“As far as I am concerned, his pride and arrogance are showing,” Zambales Representative Milagros Mitos Magsaysay said, considering that the public has been calling on the President to personally face the Sultanate of Sulu.
On Monday, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas met with Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, the brother of the Sultan of Sulu, in Camp Crame to discuss pressing issues surrounding the dispute in Sabah.
It was the first time that a representative from the government sat down to discuss the issue with a member of the Kiram family since the stand-off in Sabah began last February.
“Kung ako si Pnoy (Aquino), bakit si Mar Roxas ang ipadadala mo? Dapat s’ya mismo (If I were Aquino, why would I send Manuel Roxas II). He should have done it personally),” Magsaysay said.
She said President Aquino should have humbled himself by facing the Kiram family. She added that if it were a different president, he or she will tackle the crisis head on.
“Do it for your country. . . for the sovereignty. Yung pride and arrogance, wala nang place yan sa ganitong klaseng nangyayari sa Sabah,” Magsaysay said.
Earlier Thursday, UNA courted voters in Pasay City, and will continue with its motorcade in Quezon City in the afternoon.